Irrational Decisions

I'm sure we've all got our own opinions of what makes something rational or irrational... sometimes, many have the same or similar thoughts...

Well lets take a recent situation that has sparked controversy at the University of East Anglia, more specifically, the impending decision taken by the School of Computing Sciences to ban laptop use within lectures.

...but why is this irrational?... I hear you say.

Firstly, I will state that I am a laptop user and I feel that being able to use a small laptop to take notes (primarily using Microsoft OneNote 2010) has enabled me to firstly keep pace with the lecture as well as create a set of highly organised, cohesive and logical notes, which are clearly legible and have the added benefit of appeasing the green brigade... i.e. I'm not printing a ton of paper which ultimately gets screwed up.

The ban was the result of a meeting of the Staff-Student Liaison Committee (SSLC) where one of the reps raised a complaint from several students that those with laptops are causing distractions through procrastinating on video games etc... whilst most agree this is a valid point, surely a wider consultation should been held prior to even raising the point to get a general consensus on how the majority feel?, neither I, nor the majority or students were actually consulted. Instead, the answer was a ban... quite autocratic right?

Well, rumours began to circulate, and before long the arguments started, arguments which seemed to cause a chasm to open between both students and lecturers alike... I personally felt this decision was doing an injustice to those innocent of what was being complained about, and as such failed to take into any consideration that there would be a minority of innocent students affected... and so, in protest, this Facebook group was created...

Now apparently, according communication from reps and indeed, the Union of UEA Students, the decision had not yet actually been made/was official... meaning that laptop use could go on... well... additional controversy was stirred when some lecturers decided to enforce this decision... resulting in some truly shocking things... such as disabled people being asked to make themselves known quite publicly within a lecture to have special permission to use laptops... (yes, this is illegal...), of course, upsetting those with disabilities... and incurring the wrath of the Dean of Students... quite frankly, whether illegal or not, many feel its an utter disgrace and totally unacceptable for a lecturer to conduct themselves in this manner...

Otherwise, in general, it has also brought students into conflict with lecturers... generally through standing up and refusing to close laptops when no ban is apparently in place, or in general defiance and protest, action also threatened by members of both the ndergraduate and postgraduate communities.

Of course, I oppose the ban (just incase you do not realise this yet...) but certainly myself and others, who use laptops for note taking etc. feel that playing games and such on a laptop during a lecture is an unacceptable thing to do...

Now surely a far more adult and responsible thing to do is to simply challenge the offending student over their conduct, and it it bothers people so much, why not move to a different seat? On the flip side... surely, a wider consensus had to have been taken in the first place before such an issue was raised with the SSLC? Does this alone not qualify the decision as irrational?

Another argument presented is that as students, we are paying large amounts of money to be at University, surely it should be down to the students, NOT academic staff as to what method they choose to take notes in lectures? Equally, those not using laptops do indeed have the same right... in some ways, the whole argument on fees negates itself, because everyone is effectively in the same boat... i.e. I have a right to use my laptop to take notes, and not be disturbed by others but Joe Bloggs has just as much right to take handwritten notes and not be disturbed by others...

Being realistic though, the above argument has a point in mentioning disturbances... Laptop users are on the whole a minority... the majority of procrastination and disturbance comes from students either talking, making unnecessary noise or playing with mobile phones... but it seems the SSLC forgot to mention this let alone take any note of it?!

Speaking with some lecturers both within and outside of Computing Sciences, there does seem to be confusion as to why ban laptops, but nothing else... and agreement that this decision is irrational simply because it was limited only to Laptops... when they all feel mobile phones in particular are a far bigger problem...

However, on the plus side, there will be an open SSLC meeting on 23rd February to allow students the opportunity to have their say (hurrah!!!!)... hopefully, the whole issue can be put to bed and forgotten...let's think... it is probably a safe assumption that the majority of students would be indifferent to the ban anyway with a minority supporting it.... certainly, it would appear that there is significant opposition to it from all over the University... quite scary that and issue that has stark consequences for an overall minority has prooven so divisive...

At least though, the majority wish to see a rational outcome and pot, lets hope relationships can be restored/maintained... but If you ask me... I find the whole thing has caused embarrassment to the School of Computing Sciences... despite the fact that some lecturers are chilled out... perhaps, my closing question should be... where is the logic in removing computers from computing lectures?